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G. S. ANDREWS.

Caster.

No. 222,226. Patented Dec. 2, I879.

dmvento'uz 1f & 94mm Hum M i%% STATE rttrLetters au-mt To all whom itmdy coneem. 1 v 5: 1

Be it knownthat I, GEORGE S; .ANDREWS, of the city and county-of San-Francisco, and 1 State of California,- h invented a .Brake- Attachment for Furni'ture Gasters and I do hereby declare that the. following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to thejaccompanyingdrawings. v

Theobject of myinvention is to arrange furniture-casters so that they will rotate freely :under'theordinary weightof the pieceof furniture to which they arefattached, but .be cramped, bound, or chocked so as to form a solid bearing when anyadditional weight is placed upon the article of furniture. To-dothis I place aspring orcushionin the V bottom'of the socket inwhich the spindle of the caster is inserted, so that the end of the spindle will press upon it; .I also arrange. the spindle so that it. caum v e longitudinally a limiteddistance through the cap which covers 7 the end of the leg and socket. The ordinary weight of the article; of furniturewill then be supported by the spring, andthe caster will l 5 operate freely, but if additional weight'be applied the wheelwillbe-blocked and prevented from rotating. I j q In order to illustrate my invention .Ihave. represented, it in the accompanyingjdrawings in connectionwith a piano-stool, to which ar-' ticle of furnitureit is more particularly adapted, but it can also be applied to other, articles of furniture. p q Figurel is a vertioal section of my improved caster. Fig. 2 isan elevation of the same, and Fig.3 is a detached Iview of a piano-stool provided with myimproved automatic casterbrake. y v r I r A is a piano-stool or other article of furniture. "Bis an ordinary.furniture-caster having the usual spindle G, which projects up into a socket in the bottom of the stool-leg I). In applying the caster to the-leg D, I make the socket somewhat deeper than usual, and in its bottomI place a block,.e, :india-rubber or otherelasticcushionor spring. I then drop a metallic plate, t, loosely o the socket,so that" it will rest upon the cu-s ion or spring)" 1 a j |M-P' OVE ENTjIN CAISTERS.

" May 22, 1879.

Upon the spindleO of he icasterI place a PATENT cnonen's ANDREWSIQO SAN FRANCISCO, OATJIFORhI-IA;

No.'222,226, dated December 2, 1879,- applieationsfiledfj diskorcap, f, which has a hole'through its center, and a tubular extension,j,"projecting from it on one side. This tubular extension is shorter than the spindle, so that when thejspindle is passed through it and itsendheaded down so as to prevent it from. slipping out it will have a longitudinal play through the disk and tubular extension. The disk is large enough to cover theend of the leg-D. When the tubular extension has been slippedinto the socket in the leg, I secure the disk to the bottom of the leg by means of screwsin the ordinaryway; The end of the'spiudle will then press upon the spring andthe'vveight of the stool or other article to whichthe caster is applied will be supported bythefspring when the caster rests upon the floor, but if an extra weight, such as the Weight of a'person, be placed upon the stool the springorcushionwill be condensed until the-"caster-wheel strikes against the under side of the diskor cap f, by which means the wheel isrblocked "and the caster prevented from rotating. 7 f This provides a solidv bearing forYthe stool when it is occupied, so that it will 'fnot move upon its rollers, but when theweiglitjis rem-ovedathe elasticity of the springrai'ses the stool until the caster-roller isfreeto rotate as usual. The end of the spindle bearsagainst thev metal plate 13 in the socket, so that the cushion or spring is not injured, and there is bntlittle friction to prevent the free iiotation of the spindle. An elastic or roughened surface could be applied to the under side of the, cap or disk f, so as to increase the'friction of the wheel against it, and thus render the brake more positive. I

Various applications of a spring? or cushion could be made to accomplish the-same pur-. pose, but these would be simpleequivalents for the device shown. l y by I am aware that spring-casters haye been used for accommodating inequalitiesof the floor on which the article of furniturestands, or inequalities in the length of the} legs, but the application of a brake to the wheel bythe ture that makes my arrangement valuable.

't 1 Having thus described my iuventiom-what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patextension, and the elastic cushion or spring 6,

cut, iswith its interposed metal plate f, all combined 1. The combination, with a caster-wheel and arranged to operate substantially as and frame and a spring, of a standard adapted, for the purpose described.

by the exertion of downward pressure there- In witness whereof I have hereunto set my on, to compress the spring and brake the wheel, hand and seal.

substantially as specified. G S fiDR [Ia SJ 2. The cap or disk f, with its tubular extension, j, in combination with the spindle O, of Witnesses: a furniture-caster, said spindle having free ro- W. FLOYD DUCKETT, tation and longitudinal play in the tubular W. F. CLARK. 

